Darkness & Silence
by Kamitra
Summary: Who knows what you dream of and why? Do you dream at night or when the sun is out? Surreal JirouAto.


A/N: The sheer fact that the more sleep deprived I get, the less likely I am to do work of any kind. And because I feel for Jirou (I don't sleep as much as he does, but I can at least compare). Kind of OOC. I actually did the research after I wrote this, so this is kind of different from the original. I don't know how old his older brother is, so I'm leaving him out.  
  
Experimental piece. Don't psychoanalyze me for this, but you may, of course, psychoanalyze the ficlet. There's not a lot of meaning, but probably a lot if you want there to be. There's a 75% chance that everything that strikes you as strange or out of place was done on purpose. Why, well, that's for you to decide. *smiles*  
  
A little JirouAto and maybe a touch of something else. Mwahahahah. Somberish title for a not-so-heavy piece of writing. Oneshot.  
  
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When All Is Peace And Darkness  
  
by Kamitra  
  
I turned my head towards the early afternoon sky in the window and blinked -- the sun had set several hours ago. The thought almost made me wonder when and how I got home when I thought it was bright enough early afternoon sun, but I already knew that answer. It was almost the same answer every day. Time always passed before I realized it.  
  
I went downstairs to find the house empty. It looked as if I was on my own for dinner... which was unusual. I looked down at the table to see that dinner had been prepared, with a note. It was her favorite kitsune design notepad. The nine tails fanned cutely in the corner of her pretty handwriting.  
  
"It's your mom and dad's anniversary today, so we went out for dinner to revitalize our romance. 3 Your sister is out at a friend's place today. See you when we get home, and don't forget to take a bath before you go to sleep. Be sure to dry your hair properly, or you'll catch cold.  
  
-- Mom"  
  
I exclaimed my appreciation to the table. It was a quick and easy dish to prepare (which meant that Mom relaxed a little today like Dad told her to), but also my favorite – fried rice with leftover lamb chops.  
  
I played with the pale yellow glass and cloth napkin (the one with cute feather designs) as I ate, trying to see how fast I could pull it out from underneath the glass. The hem kept getting in the way, so I decided to seeing if I could just flip the cup over to pull the napkin out.  
  
It almost shattered on the sixth try. I went back to eating after that.  
  
After dinner, I lounged around the kitchen, drinking a cup of hachimitsu (honey) lemon. The sky outside was still dark. I briefly wondered if the sky would suddenly lighten with dawn, or if I was still sleeping. Still, I always knew when I was asleep and when I was awake. I could never remember my dreams, though. The Regulars (mostly Oshitari and Taki) tried to blackmail me with that bit of knowledge, but gave up when they realized that I really didn't know what I dreamt about and was absolutely curious to know.  
  
Sometimes my dreams were like memories, and I would stare at someone or something in a sudden feeling of deja vu. Shishido complained that that was creepier than the few times that I slept with my eyes open.  
  
But sometimes it wasn't deja vu and it was something that really did happen. I didn't always remember what I did when awake either. Everyone swore I sleepwalked at training camp until Oshitari said that I didn't blink when I was asleep. No one could figure out how he was so sure of that.  
  
After taking a bath, dressing in my teddy bear pajamas, I sat at the edge of my bed, playing with the edges of my slippers. I dug through my bag to see what studying I had to do that day. I flipped through my English book. When I realized that I had read through half of the assignment, I closed the book. I scribbled a few math problems down on the sheet we were going to have a test for. I looked back out the window.  
  
It was still dark.  
  
I picked up a vaguely dolphin-shaped pillow and tossed it around. It tumbled once and then fell off the bed. I frowned -- tennis balls didn't bounce like that. I continued to bat the pillow back and forth on the bed, trying to see how to get it to bounce correctly.  
  
"Jirou!!"  
  
I jumped, hiding the pillow behind me as I quickly sat on the bed. It wasn't like I was doing anything wrong, but I just did it anyway. My mother smiled and stepped into the room. I guessed that they just got home and I didn't hear them.  
  
"Sweet dreams, Jirou. Do you have morning practice tomorrow?"  
  
I nodded sleepily. My mother murmured something, but her voice soon became a peaceful noise. I fell slept and promptly forgot about everything that happened that night.  
  
It wasn't until I saw his face in the sun-filled morning that I remembered... or was it just a dream?  
  
"Thanks for taking me home today."  
  
My mother added her apologies in the background, rushing around the house like usual.  
  
He verbally nodded (I was busy trying to put my shoes on so I didn't see his face) and had Kabaji jerk me by my bag before I could stumble over Mom's yellow roses. He knew that I rarely remembered what day it was, or even what hour it was. I guess he just accepted whatever I told him because I didn't always remember things that really happened.  
  
"Do we have morning practice today?"  
  
"Aa."  
  
"Did Mukahi really tie Shishido's hair into pigtails last year?"  
  
"What does that have to do with morning practice? And if you really want to know, ask one of those gossiping idiots."  
  
"What's today's lunch?"  
  
"The usual."  
  
That was about it for conversation. After a while, I began to hum to myself as we walked.  
  
'...of gold and starlight in your eyes of blue...'  
  
"Temee--" Atobe growled. "Don't you EVER mention that song again. Got it?!"  
  
Atobe had pushed me against a convenient wall before I could dodge, which was really really fast. He glared ice daggers at me... and I just blinked at him. Then I realized what he said and nodded unenthusiastically. It wasn't that I wanted to die, but my mind was fuzzy, wondering what it was that I was supposed to forget, and if I could remember if I didn't remember.  
  
My eyes turned droopy, but Atobe shook me once more before he let me go.  
  
... Just like me, they long to be, close to you...  
  
I blinked again. I suddenly had a vision of a party and touching Atobe's ever-so-slightly pink face as I sang something, staring into his eyes... Was that people's voices I heard in the background? Maybe there was something pink on the table... like sakura...  
  
I felt dizzy.  
  
I yawned and put my head on my desk, and all went silent. I didn't even remember getting there by the time Kabaji woke me up for tennis practice. 


End file.
